Analysis of Outsong in the Jungle
Rudyard Kipling 1865 (Mumbai) – 1936 (London)
For the sake of him who showed
One wise Frog the Jungle-Road,
Keep the Law the Man-Pack make
For thy blind old Baloo's sake!
Clean or tainted, hot or stale,
Hold it as it were the Trail,
Through the day and through the night,
Questing neither left nor right.
For the sake of him who loves
Thee beyond all else that moves,
When thy Pack would make thee pain,
Say: " Tabaqui sings again."
When thy Pack would work thee ill,
Say: "Shere Khan is yet to kill."
When the knife is drawn to slay,
Keep the Law and go thy way.
(Root and honey, palm and spathe,
Guard a cub from harm and scathe!)
Wood and Water, Wind and Tree,
Jungle-Favour go with thee!
Anger is the egg of Fear--
Only lidless eyes see clear.
Cobra-poison none may leech--
Even so with Cobra-speech.
Open talk shall call to thee
Strength, whose mate is Courtesy.
Send no lunge beyond thy length.
Lend no rotten bough thy strength.
Gauge thy gape with buck or goat,
Lest thine eye should choke thy throat.
After gorging, wouldst thou sleep ?
Look thy den be hid and deep,
Lest a wrong, by thee forgot,
Draw thy killer to the spot.
East and West and North and South,
Wash thy hide and close thy mouth.
(Pit and rift and blue pool-brim,
Middle-Jungle follow him!)
Wood and Water, Wind and Tree,
Jungle-Favour go with thee!
In the cage my life began;
Well I know the worth of Man.
By the Broken Lock that freed--
Man-cub, ware the Man-cub's breed!
Scenting-dew or starlight pale,
Choose no tangled tree-cat trail.
Pack or council, hunt or den,
Cry no truce with Jackal-Men.
Feed them silence when they say:
"Come with us an easy way."
Feed them silence when they seek
Help of thine to hurt the weak.
Make no bandar's boast of skill;
Hold thy peace above the kill.
Let nor call nor song nor sign
Turn thee from thy hunting-line.
(Morning mist or twilight clear,
Serve him, Wardens of the Deer!)
Wood and Water, Wind and Tree,
Jungle-Favour go with thee!
On the trail that thou must tread
To the threshold of our dread,
Where the Flower blossoms red;
Through the nights when thou shalt lie
Prisoned from our Mother-sky,
Hearing us, thy loves, go by;
In the dawns when thou. shalt wake
To the toil thou canst not break,
Heartsick for the Jungle's sake;
Wood and Water, Wind air Tree,
Wisdom, Strength, and Courtesy,
Jungle-Favour go with thee!
Scheme | aabbccddxxxeffgghhIH jjkkhihhllmmnnhhooIH ppqqcceeggrr ffssjjIH tttuuubbbiiH |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011111 1110101 1010111 111111 1110111 1111001 1010101 110111 1011111 1011111 1111111 11101 1111111 1111111 1011111 1010111 1010101 1011101 1010101 101111 1010111 101111 1010111 1011101 1011111 1111100 1110111 1110111 1111111 1111111 101111 1111101 1011101 1110101 1010101 1110111 1010111 1010101 1010101 101111 0011101 1110111 1010111 1110111 11111 1110111 1110111 1111101 1110111 1111101 1110111 1111101 111111 1110101 1111111 1111101 101111 1110101 1010101 101111 1011111 1011101 1010101 1011111 10110101 1011111 0011111 1011111 11011 1010111 1010100 101111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,257 |
Words | 433 |
Sentences | 31 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 20, 20, 12, 8, 12 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 351 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 84 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on May 01, 2023
- 2:10 min read
- 112 Views
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"Outsong in the Jungle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/33303/outsong-in-the-jungle>.
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